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Little Willie Center 5K

train4gain — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0000

This was a fun run. It was in the afternoon, and my first race that wasn’t at 8 a.m.

I know when people think of Greenville, N.C., they don’t think of hills. However, the area right near the Tar River in the downtown area is decently hilly. At a few points, it was almost like running up some stairs. That, combined with the fact that I ran the first mile way too fast (90 seconds under my target mile-split time), my overall time suffered a bit.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 11/02/2008
Time: 14:00:00
Total Time: 00:30:31.00
Distance: 3.1 miles
Average Pace: 9:50.16/mile

LifeStyles 5K

train4gain — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:00:00 +0000

This was my first 5K race by myself, and my pace suffered just a bit. Now, I don’t think being alone was what affected my pace. I gotta tell you. I hadn’t really planned on doing the race, so I stepped up my training just a touch this week. Not really in the total miles run, but in the pace I was going after on shorter runs. I was trying to keep my pace under 9 minutes, where my 5K split has been (at its best) are 9:30.

Anyway, to the race … I was sore (calf) on race day and the weather (it was rainy) affected my knee (old injury). But I was there, and determined to make the best of it. I found a group that was running about my usual pace and tried to keep them in sight. I gotta tell you, I nearly stopped to walk twice. But I just kept saying, “If you stop, you won’t break 30. If you stop, you won’t break 30.” Well, I didn’t break 30, but I didn’t stop either. My pain paid off, in a medal, actually. I came in second in my age group (Males, 20-29). Had I run my PR, the age group winner would have been in sight. But I just wasn’t able to run that fast today. Gotta say, though, wicked cool to get my first medal!

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/25/2008
Time: 08:00:00
Total Time: 00:31:36.00
Distance: 3.1 miles
Average Pace: 10:11.21/mile

Day run

train4gain — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Since last night’s run wasn’t all that great, I decided to do it all over again today. Same course, better pace. This one was a 2-mile PR … second one I’ve set this week.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/23/2008
Time: 14:00:00
Total Time: 00:17:34.16
Distance: 2 miles
Average Pace: 8:47.09/mile

Night run

train4gain — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:00:00 +0000

Well, this run wasn’t all that great. I wasn’t full or anything, but I’d had some food ealier, and I prefer to run on a near-empty stomach — granola, a banana or celery. Anyway, the time wasn’t that great. Boo.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/22/2008
Time: 23:00:00
Total Time: 00:18:47.59
Distance: 2 miles
Average Pace: 9:23.38/mile

Short run

train4gain — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Skipped a day after the 8K race, ran two miles today and pushed the pace. As far as I can remember, it’s a PR for two miles.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/20/2008
Time: 15:00:00
Total Time: 00:17:48.21
Distance: 2 miles
Average Pace: 8:54.12/mile

Run for Respiration 8K (and a little rant)

train4gain — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:30:00 +0000

I have to say, not bad for my first 8K. I finished in well under an hour, which was my goal. There were a few delays along the way. The first one was great. Karrie and I saw Marvin Jarman walking down the street on his way to the ECU football game. Well, you just can’t run past Marvin without saying hello, so we didn’t. The second delay was just me. I had to slow down at about the four-mile mark. Being my first 8K, I probably took the pace a little too fast through the first 5, and some soreness was already setting in. But, I finished strong and crossed the finish line with head held high. Believe it or not, I was only one spot from getting the third-place trophy for my age group (males, 20-29). Now, that was likely due to a low turnout because of the weather. Oh, did I leave that out? Yeah, cold and rainy!

Well, I really enjoy running these races, but I’m going to have to make some changes in my life in order to take full advantage of my training. The night before this race, I had three friends in town for the aforementioned ECU football game. Also, I work from 4 until midnight every night (sportswriter). I came home, and they were all in the house having a good time. In that good time, there was beer and pizza. Well, being the guy I am, I indulged in the goodies. I’m sure that’s not the best night-before-the-race meal. Not to mention that I stayed up until nearly 4 a.m., and had to wake up at 7 to run the race.

The pizza and beer, I usually do without. However, the running of a race on three (or thereabouts) hours of sleep, well that’s going to be harder to eliminate being that while I said I work until midnight earlier, it’s very often nearer to 1 a.m on Friday nights (especially during football season). Sometimes, and often without thinking, people say, “Why can’t you just go home and go right to sleep?” Well, my usual retort is to ask them if they know anyone who can usually go home and turn in for a night’s sleep right after work? Of course, there may be some obvious exceptions — after a grueling day of construction work, for example. Granted, I don’t have to stay up until 4 a.m. every night, but it’s extremely hard for me to get to sleep usually before 3 at the earliest. Well, until I can figure this out, I’ll continue to run the races on three or four hours of sleep.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/18/2008
Time: 08:30:00
Total Time: 00:52:41.00
Distance: 4.97 miles
Average Pace: 10:36.04/mile

Kettlebells in the house (yard)

train4gain — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:00:00 +0000

So, because of the financial situation in my life, I’ve had to cut back. One of the things I sliced was the gym membership this summer. Instead, I got out and ran, rode my bike and played a lot of soccer. All free. I did, however, miss resistance training. I had (still have, actually) plans to bring a few pieces of equipment into my spare bedroom — mainly, a incline/decline bench and some dumbbells. Still haven’t been able to save up for that — I need to make it more of a priority. But when you’re living paycheck to paycheck, it’s hard to run out and make a $200 purchase. I did, however, recently come into the possession of a pair of 35-pound kettlebells. I’ve used them before, and are aware of their benefits. They were just collecting dust — literally — in a buddy’s storage area. So, I informed him that I’d be borrowing them for the time being. I took them out today and did five exercises of three sets each. It felt good to work out like that again, and I’m looking forward to the continuation. I think I’ll alternate days with them. So I guess it’s another 3-mile run tomorrow.

Workout:

Type: Strength Training
Date: 10/13/2008
Time: 14:00:00
Total Time: 00:30:00.00

Good Samaritan 5K

train4gain — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:30:00 +0000

I did the Good Samaritan 5K today. It was a road race, and I totally crushed my PR. My previous best was 29:36, and today’s time was 29:27. It was a good run in great weather. I ran a decent pace, yet managed to have just enough in the tank for a late push to the finish to make sure I got in under 30 minutes. Good run.

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/11/2008
Time: 08:30:00
Total Time: 00:29:27.81
Distance: 3.1 miles
Average Pace: 9:30.52/mile

Fourth annual Bo Run 5K

train4gain — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:00:00 +0000

I bet everyone thought I had given up the training. Well, I haven’t. But I have to admit, with a very busy football season, I did slow down quite a bit. I’m still at it, however, and I just recently ran in the fourth annual Bo Run 5K, and finished 48th out of about 100. On an interesting note, the girl I ran along side finished in the top 20 females. I’ll go for my medal next time! Anyway, I really had fun running in the event. It was my first 5K. I didn’t get to enjoy the feeling of actually finishing it, though. I ran in the community race, and had to turn right around and cover the event for the local paper … ah the life of a sportswriter.

I’ll go ahead and include the links to my coverage of the event. It includes two stories and a video package. The Bo Run is a charity race named after a high school cross country runner who died in a car accident in 2005.

Preview story: Click Here
Race day coverage: Click Here
Video package: Click Here

Workout:

Type: Run
Date: 10/04/2008
Time: 08:00:00
Total Time: 00:32:05.83
Distance: 3.1 miles
Average Pace: 10:21.76/mile

Good hike in the woods

train4gain — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Went camping last week and hiked all over Goose Creek State Park. Went swimming too, but that doesn’t really count because all I did was splash around with my dog.

Workout:

Type: Walk
Date: 07/28/2008
Time: 16:00:00
Total Time: 3:00:00.00
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 35:55.69/mile